Heartbreak for GB's Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase at Eton Dorney as Denmark edge them into silver

While the rest of the rowing team celebrated, two of Britain’s golden sculling
hopes were left distraught after a dramatic restart – caused by one of the
British pair’s seat coming loose – in one of the tightest races of their
careers, saw them lose by a few feet to former world champions Denmark.

Setback: Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter had issues with their boat at the start of the racePhoto: BBC

By Rachel Quarry, Eton Dorney

12:53PM BST 04 Aug 2012

Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase were beside themselves after failing by half a second to join the elite club of gold medallists at a home Olympics – and even then their silver medal was in some doubt after the French team lodged an appeal because of the restart.

“We feel like we’ve let everyone down by not winning,” said Hunter, while Purchase said “Even though it’s a silver medal, it still hurts when you come for gold.”

It was Saturday just after noon. The rain had gone, British rowing had added two more golds and the entire crowd sang the national anthem to celebrate the men’s coxless four victory.

Purchase and Hunter were on top form and another anthem chorus looked likely.

Within 15 strokes of starting the race, disaster struck. Purchase abruptly slid backwards, his seat having come off the metal slides it runs on due to a loose wheel and a twisted clip.

He lifted a hand to indicate damage, and the umpire immediately stopped the race.

The rules state that the first 100 metres of the 2km course is the “start zone” and any crew which sustains damage to its boat or equipment in that area can stop and raise an arm to indicate a problem.

Equipment can then be mended or a race postponed to allow replacements, and the competition is then restarted.

After a tense ten minutes while race officials at the start lent Purchase and his coach Darren Whiter a screwdriver to fix the damage, it began all over again.

Slightly slower off the blocks than the French previously, this time Hunter and Purchase led the field straight away.

Within a minute and a half they had built up a half-length cushion between them and the Danes, which they held for another thousand metres. Every time Denmark pushed, Hunter and Purchase matched it.

As the crews approached the grandstands, Hunter and Purchase seemed to move away. But Denmark’s push, when it came, was ferocious.

Stroke by stroke they inexorably wore the British duo down, both doubles sprinting faster and faster – 200 metres to go, 100 and still the British bow stayed in front, 50 metres, and the sheer power and persistence of Denmark finally put them into the lead, by an inch.

Hunter and Purchase tried to respond, but had nothing left. The margin, a few feet, might just as well have been miles.

After the finish Stany Delayre, the bowman of the French crew that finished fourth, protested the restart, and his federation took up the appeal.

But it was declared a fair race due to genuine breakage, and the protest was denied.

Hunter was confident that the restart could not have cost them gold. “We’re good at not being influenced by that, it wouldn’t have affected the outcome,’ he said later.

“We’ve had ups and downs – bringing ourselves up from sixth place at the last world cup to second here has been remarkable.

"We’re just really disappointed for the people who have supported us along the way.”

A devastated Purchase was inconsolable. “The emotional side is always difficult. When you put everything in and you lose, there is no hiding place.

"We’ll spend days, weeks, months, the rest of our lives, trying to work out if we could have done more,” he said.

They knew they could beat everyone on their day. This wasn’t it. As they tried to walk the lactic acid out of their legs, Hunter and Purchase could hear the national anthem ringing out for fellow lightweights Sophie Hosking and Kat Copeland, whom they so nearly joined on the centre of the podium.

Collecting their medals, Purchase could not hold back the tears, and applauded his crew-mate. Hunter kissed the medal, smiling but torn with emotion.

Hunter’s father Terry coaches novices on Dorney Lake and had been hoping to show his rowers the gold medal won on their own training waters. “It’s so sad for them, they did so well,” he said.

The last word went to Purchase. “We have really enjoyed being part of this amazing team,” he said.